THE man who fell to his death from a loyalist bonfire in Co Antrim has been named locally as John Steele.
The 36-year-old died after falling from a pyre at Antiville in Larne at around 9.30pm on Saturday.
The ground on which the bonfire was being built is owned by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and is located close to a local play park.
The council said contractors helped to remove the bonfire material following a request from the community and confirmed "no health and safety inspections were carried out at that site by council officers" prior to the accident.
A father, Mr Steele is said to have been an experienced bonfire builder and had been involved in helping to construct the local pyre for many years.
The PSNI has said it is investigating the circumstances of his death.
Inspector Adrian Bryan said police understood "that the man was assisting in the building of the bonfire when this tragic accident occurred".
The Antiville pyre is close to the Craigyhill bonfire, which has been in the headlines in recent days over safety concerns as builders try to break a height record. Organisers of that bonfire last night said construction will continue and the pyre will be lit as planned tonight with the blessing of Mr Steele's family.
An estimated 250 Eleventh Night bonfires are expected to be torched over the Twelfth period.
The tragedy is the latest in a series of accidents linked to loyalist bonfires. Last year a teenager was left fighting for his life after being engulfed in a fireball at an Eleventh Night bonfire in the Silverstream Crescent area of north Belfast. The 17-year-old was later treated in hospital for burns to his face and body.
A teenage boy was also airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital after falling off the bonfire in Cookstown, Co Tyrone. A spokesman for Mid and East Antrim council last night said the PSNI is leading the investigation into the tragedy "and council is assisting as required".
"Council regularly works with the relevant statutory stakeholders and the community in relation to bonfires," he said.
"No specific health and safety concerns were raised - including at any Cultural Celebrations Working Group meetings - in relation to Antiville, and no health and safety inspections were carried out at that site by council officers."
Rev Ben Preston, of Craigy Hill Presbyterian Church, said he had been to the scene.
"No-one involved in this kind of thing expects that to happen - the community is in shock and is numb," he said.
DUP MP for the area Sammy Wilson said the community was in shock.
"It is a real tragedy at what is a special time of year for people in the loyalist community," he said.
John Stewart, UUP assembly member for East Antrim said: “This was a terrible accident and the local community will rally round to give the family as much support as possible.
Sinn Féin councillor James McKeown described Mr Steele's death as a "tragedy" and offered his condolences.
Alliance MLA Danny Donnelly said news of the tragedy was "heartbreaking".
A vigil in memory of Mr Steele was due to be held at the pyre site last night with bonfire builders and band members among those invited.
On social media, Constable Anderson Memorial Flute Band, of which Mr Steele's daughter is a member, said members "are deeply saddened" by his death.
The band added that it has "close ties to the Steele family".
